Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Book Review: Dying by the Hour by Kory M. Shrum

This is the second book I've had the pleasure of listening to as I walked my dogs and drove to work. This book picks up where the first one left off, with Allie still in love with Jesse and Jesse torn between Allie and Laine. This time, however, we have the advantage of Allie's point of view added to the story. This structure added depth and breadth to a tale of life, death, reanimation, and the struggle between the demonized Necronites and a country following a madman who hides behind religion to advance his ambitions. More than ever, Jesse is called upon to confront and defeat this madman. Will she live or lose her head and truly die one final time?

Reminiscent of the rise of Nazism on the way to WWII and the cult of the Aryan nation, this story returns us to those times and tackles tough topics. The marginalized, the OTHER, persecuted and pursued, from LGBT youth to those who refuse to bow down to false gods who would use innocents and toss them aside as garbage are here. At times heartbreaking, this is not a story for the faint of heart. Prepare to be catapulted back into this world and buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy ride.